Wall Street speculation is the reason heating oil costs $3.00 or more per gallon for Chelsea residents who rely on oil to heat their homes and properties. Despite conditions approaching oversupply and demand that remains limited except during periods of extreme cold, the price should be substantially lower than current market rates. Speculators, rather than genuine scarcity, are responsible for driving prices upward. Supply and demand dynamics have become largely irrelevant in today’s marketplace. The situation grows more troubling when considering that no organized protests have emerged, no serious calls for commodity speculation reform have gained traction, and little attention is being paid to working class and working poor residents in apartments who must spend $600 to fill their oil tanks during the winter months of December, January and February. Instead, complacency appears to characterize the public response. At what price point would citizens finally mobilize to demand change through organized protest?
The heating oil scam
